Planning on building a 30 gal. barrel stove this summer. Checked online last night for kits, and found lots of reviews bemoaning poor quality. Yup, you guessed it: made in China, even ones marketed as Volgelzang which I thought was a reputable American company. I'll check my favorite mercantile, Samson's Hardware in Fairbanks, next week and see what they have. Anyway, I may change my plans if everything out there is Chinese junk. Any thoughts? Thanks and have a healthy day.

I bought a voglezang once and it didn't draft worth crap. I ended up making my own with angle iron for the frame and 3/16th sheet for the door.

I put sand in the bottom and a barrel lasts me about 8 years before they burn thru near the pipe, probably the hottest spot. Mine are on a 55gal drum.

Problem I have had with barrel stove kits is that the fitting for the pipe ( 6” ) is made for the pipe to go on the outside. Any condensation or moisture running down the inside of the pipe leaks out there

Thank you both. 3Fingers, thanks for the heads up on the pipe. I'll look closely at that. I would want the pipe to fit down inside the fitting like on a regular stove. Hippie, thanks your the tip on draft. I've seen where guys will improvise additional draft by putting a 2" pipe nipple in the larger bung, and making an air control cover for it. Did you have any trouble with the door/fitting warping or cracking?

A bit of warping around the door . I used a gasket and only a bit of air leakage. The legs aren’t tall enough to get the stove a safe distance off the floor so you’ll have to rig something up

I found that an old piece of 6" drill pipe worked perfectly for a collar as long as you're making a flat top.

You might check with Northcountry stoves in FAI. They might have a different selection